Abhishek Sharma has a beautiful bat swing. And he used it to good impact on the VCA Stadium on Wednesday.
His 35-ball 84 propelled India to 238 for seven in 20 overs, organising the hosts’ 48-run victory over New Zealand within the first T20I.
Glenn Phillips (78, 40b, 4×4, 6×6) put up a courageous combat, but it surely was not going to be sufficient because the guests may solely handle 190 for seven in 20 overs.
The Indian batters performed with intent and freedom, having full religion within the extent of their batting order. New Zealand chipping away with wickets didn’t deter the house facet because it took the aggressive route all through the whirlwind innings.
Abhishek asserted dominance, usually charging down the monitor and giving himself room to confuse the bowlers. The Indian opener hit extra sixes than fours (5×4, 8×6) in his entertaining essay. Two of Abhishek’s boundaries got here due to Kiwi debutant Kristian Clarke misjudging and misfielding twice close to the fence off Phillips’ over, which went for 20 runs. Jacob Duffy was the one Kiwi bowler to return with first rate figures (4-0-27-2).
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Aside from Abhishek and Suryakumar Yadav’s 99-run third-wicket stand, India didn’t have a protracted partnership. The skipper, throughout his 22-ball 32 (4×4, 1×6), confirmed promise of returning to kind, notably when he unfurled his signature pick-up shot for a six off Clarke.
Abhishek couldn’t capitalise on the robust likelihood dropped by Daryl Mitchell as Ish Sodhi bought the opener caught at long-on in the identical over. Abhishek, nonetheless, was solely dismissed after he sealed the document for being the quickest to 5000 T20 runs when it comes to balls confronted (2898). He broke West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell’s mark of 2942 balls.
India shedding wickets usually didn’t have an effect on the scoring charge. NZ skipper Mitchell Santner’s alternative of giving the ball to Mitchell (his first over of the sport) proved catastrophic as Rinku Singh (44 n.o., 20b, 4×4, 3×6) took full toll on the medium-pacer. The twentieth over went for 21 runs as Rinku underlined why he is without doubt one of the finest bets to bat within the dying overs.
Glenn Phillips (78, 40b, 4×4, 6×6) put up a courageous combat, but it surely was not sufficient because the guests may solely handle 190 for seven in 20 overs.
| Picture Credit score:
Ok. R. DEEPAK
Glenn Phillips (78, 40b, 4×4, 6×6) put up a courageous combat, but it surely was not sufficient because the guests may solely handle 190 for seven in 20 overs.
| Picture Credit score:
Ok. R. DEEPAK
The Black Caps’ marathon chase had a wobbly begin. Whereas Devon Conway was caught behind off Arshdeep Singh (4-0-31-1) off the second ball, Rachin Ravindra, too, departed within the second over when Hardik Pandya had him caught at first slip.
Chasing 239 with the scoreline studying one for 2 was a near-impossible process. Phillips’ two good partnerships — a 51-run stand with Tim Robinson and a 79-run affiliation with Mark Chapman — would have given hope to New Zealand followers again residence who awoke early to look at the match.
These hopes would have rapidly pale as soon as Axar had Phillips caught at long-on within the 14th over. The left-arm spinner not having the ability to full his fourth over (sixteenth) after injuring his bowling hand might be a matter of concern for the Males in Blue.
A collective bowling efficiency — on a monitor that favoured the willow-wielders — was sufficient to make sure that India had a fruitful outing on the Orange Metropolis.
Printed on Jan 21, 2026